A bid to wipe two picturesque public footpaths off the map for good will be challenged during a public inquiry next week.

Officially known on maps as “footpaths 7 and 8”, the routes are located at Gorad, near Valley on Anglesey.

But the paths have been subject to a complex legal row involving the landowner, island residents and Anglesey Council spanning 61 years.

Back in 1954, the then-Anglesey council included both routes on its draft “definitive map” of the island, sparking fierce opposition from landowner the Llynon Estate,

What followed was a partial climbdown by the authority who wiped parts of the footpaths off the map, leaving only sections for residents to use.

The path is located near to the Cob in Valley, overlooking Holy Island

The situation remained unchanged until 2013 when Anglesey Council launched a bid to delete the remaining sections of the routes, claiming they should never have been designated as footpaths in the first place.

However, this has infuriated some local residents who argue the paths have been in use by walkers for many years.

They have now vowed to fight the move during Tuesday’s Public Inquiry in Llangefni, which will be held by the Welsh Government’s planning inspectorate.

Esther Farrell, a former Valley postmistress and Justice of the Peace, says that she has regularly walked the paths for over 14 years.